This question is from a experienced mac user (me) who has literally searched the entire web and still hasn't got the answer. So to start I got a MacBook Pro 2015 on Sierra. Two weeks earlier, one moment the Wi-Fi was working and four hours later there was the no hardware installed problem. I can assure you that no one was near that Mac during those 4-5 hours but maybe it went through an an auto OS update. Here are the things I tried :

I plan to replace my current kext with the one in my other 2012 Mac on the same OS version. But I can't get it to delete. I tried going root user mode and deleting it via terminal commands + single user mode. But it still does not allow me to delete it.

Problem 2:

Currently I've been using a TP-Link Wi-Fi USB stick as a temporary solution.
Side Effects : Cannot use iMessage, Facetime or download apps from the Mac App Store.

The only thing I have not given a try is restoring the Mac due to lack of Wi-Fi and a 6 GB Pen Drive. So I still gotta wait a few days until that arrives.

I know that hardware damage is unlikely unless some hardware was damaged magically on its own when I was alone at my home. But still, after looking at some old forums, which suggested to look whether the Wi-Fi ribbons are connected and to clean the area near the Airport card, I decided to open my Mac up. I didn't go as near to removing the airport card due to my inexperience in hardware issues but the Wi-Fi ribbon and all the connections appeared alright from the outside.

Finally, to conclude please don't advise me to go to the Apple Store or give me links for solving router issues or other unrelated sites. Any good advice regarding something I may have missed will be greatly appreciated. I have multiple Airport Expresses and two Time Capsules over two internet connections. The warranty is over and they wanted to charge me 50$ for just "diagnosing" it. I'm probably sure that even if I gave them the money, they would charge me 600$ to replace the motherboard or may even ask me to pay the whole sum for replacing the entire Mac itself since I live in a place which lacks original Apple Stores. We have authorized ones here which means they do more replacements here than actual service.

Bluetooth is working fine. Cannot see Wi-Fi in Recovery mode. I really don't understand how the card can die automatically as it was working fine one moment and the next moment it wasn't. There was no physical or water damager, in fact there is not even a scratch on it. I have the necessary tools to open Mac but I really don't know how to check whether the ribbon connections or the airport card is alright. Any advice would be appreciated.

Wireless cards don't automatically die, that isn't a feature. They're an electrical component after all and they can fail without warning at anytime. The first step would be to reseat both ends of the wireless ribbon. If that fails to fix the problem, the wireless card and/or ribbon will need to be replaced.

Wireless cards don't automatically die, that isn't a feature. They're an electrical component after all and they can fail without warning at anytime. The first step would be to reseat both ends of the wireless ribbon. If that fails to fix the problem, the wireless card and/or ribbon will need to be replaced.

Click to expand...

Okay so I open my MacBook pro up.
All the wires seem to be fine but the Airport card has this minute green substance on the bottom. Should I remove it?

Before you get a new wireless card, consider that the cable connecting the card to the motherboard is damaged. That's what happened to me. I had the same set of bewildering symptoms. My Wifi was fine one minute and then it was "No Hardware Installed" the next. I was able to get my Wifi back periodically before it went out for good.

This happened on a 2012 MBP though and I don't know if later MBP models were vulnerable to the same issue. The cable in question is a rather flat and broad cable. Mine certainly didn't show any signs of remarkable damage. It was a little crinkled in the middle, but that may not have had anything to do with the damage.

If your Bluetooth is fine, but your Wifi is hosed, it might be the cable. If the card is bad, the Bluetooth will probably be dead too.

Before you get a new wireless card, consider that the cable connecting the card to the motherboard is damaged. That's what happened to me. I had the same set of bewildering symptoms. My Wifi was fine one minute and then it was "No Hardware Installed" the next. I was able to get my Wifi back periodically before it went out for good.

This happened on a 2012 MBP though and I don't know if later MBP models were vulnerable to the same issue. The cable in question is a rather flat and broad cable. Mine certainly didn't show any signs of remarkable damage. It was a little crinkled in the middle, but that may not have had anything to do with the damage.

If your Bluetooth is fine, but your Wifi is hosed, it might be the cable. If the card is bad, the Bluetooth will probably be dead too.

Click to expand...

As I said earlier, Bluetooth is working "Fine" but I really don't know how to tell whether the cable is fine or not.

I had the same problem with my 2011 MBP - intermittent 'No Hardware Installed' message on WiFi, but Bluetooth would work fine. Ended up just being the flex cable which needed replacing.

Click to expand...

Totally not what you'd expect, right? I couldn't believe it was the ribbon. I never would have figured it out had I not done some extra Googling after a wireless card replacement didn't solve it. I found a couple of other people who had the exact same issue.

Yeah, I'd agree that it's probably the card in this case. It's only a 2015 so you probably wouldn't expect the ribbon to fail and the card has visible signs of damage.

I would like to thank you all your suggestions (both demotivating and motivating) guys but literally all I had to do was clean it and place it back. Although it was still not working last night, I tried running a diagnostic today morning by pressing the D key after powering the device on. The diagnostic completed with zero errors which I really found absurd. I restarted and Voila! Wi-Fi was back just like magic. So at the end of it, looks you can add cleaning corrosion to the endless list of solutions too. It may even be my good luck but at the end of the day it saved me from a expensive trip to the Apple Store where they would probably ask me to take out 700$ to replace the entire motherboard. LOL

And there's nothing in there that ought to be able to produce corrosion like that if it hasn't failed in some way. So maybe a capacitor blew and leaked goo, who knows. But something happened. And it may happen again, or it may cause other damage. Downside, if you don't have applecare, checking it out will presumably cost money. But I'd be pretty concerned.

MacRumors attracts a broad audience
of both consumers and professionals interested in
the latest technologies and products. We also boast an active community focused on
purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac platforms.